


For Want of a Nail

by rhyfel



Series: For Want of a Nail [1]
Category: Riverdale (TV 2017)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - Dark, Canon-Typical Violence, F/F, F/M, Gen, M/M, Mental Health Issues, Multi, Polyamory, Southside Serpent Jughead Jones
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-12-15
Updated: 2019-01-28
Packaged: 2019-09-18 13:30:10
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 4
Words: 8,399
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16995906
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/rhyfel/pseuds/rhyfel
Summary: Archie just wanted to be at home with his partners after years being on the road with his band.Veronica just wanted to become mayor.Betty just wanted her family to be happy.Jughead just wanted them to be safe.You know what they say: you can't always get what you want.





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> Un beta'd and tags added as needed.
> 
> Potential triggers for depression.

It was unseasonably warm the day Archie decided he was going home for good. Five days later, wrapped in Veronica’s arms and finally able to _breathe_ again, he would tell her that he just felt like it was time. That he had written the songs that needed to be written and he was ready to retire and start living his life. After all, seven years was longer than most bands ever got. It was more than enough.

 

It was true, of course, but not the whole truth.

 

He didn’t tell her that every day he’d spent away from her, Jughead, Betty, and the life they were living felt like a punishment. He was a prisoner to his dream. Every call was torture, every text nothing more than a reminder that he wasn’t with them. And it was always “them.” He’d call and Veronica would answer, Betty and Jughead working silently at laptops in the background and he’d want to scream at them to _just stop working for five minutes and be with each other._ Or he’d text Jughead who’d respond fifteen minutes later with a completely mundane rundown of picking Betty up from the store after her car broke down and going to the movies with Veronica and he wouldn’t feel abandoned, necessarily, their lives couldn’t stop just because he wasn’t in them, but he definitely felt disconnected. And it was constantly getting worse.

 

Every time he visited home it was harder to leave again. Performances and days spent in the studio were offset by nights where he did nothing but curl up in the smallest, most enclosed space he could find, great, gasping sobs wracking his body and his face pulled in a rictus of pain. Or worse, nights he felt nothing at all, browsing through the same three websites, closing one tab just to open up the _exact same thing_ in a new one. Eschewing sleep yet again for no reason at all.

 

He’d always been _so good_ at making friends, but since leaving Riverdale he hadn’t felt like he could trust anyone. Casual touches repulsed him, whether from his manager, bandmates, fans, even his hair and make-up people. Someone would brush past him on the street and he would feel the phantom touch for hours. He hated it and wanted it and hated how much he wanted it. His trainers loved how he dedicated himself to his workout routines, but he spent the whole time thinking _maybe if I’m strong enough they’ll need me._ Which was stupid and wrong, but every time he tried to tell them it wouldn’t come out right. It couldn’t have come out right or they wouldn’t have responded _we’ll be fine without you for a few more years._ They would have said _come home_ and _we need you too._

He’d slowly gone numb, until one day he woke up and realized that he couldn’t remember the last time he’d really laughed. He’d mustered up the energy to call his manager, spent the next three days in meetings with lawyers and executives, then took a plane, a bus, and a Lyft straight to their shared apartment at the Pembroke even though he knew everyone would be at work. He hadn’t even wanted to tell them he was coming back, afraid they would try to talk him out of it. Afraid he would let them. Afraid of what might have happened next.

 

But it turned out Veronica was home. She’d taken a leave of absence from her job so she could focus on her campaign. _Did I forget or did they never tell me?_ Archie wondered. And when Veronica had seen him come in she’d told him that he should have _called_ and they would have been there to pick him up from the airport and did Archie want _food_ or _drinks_? And Archie had felt like a guest in his own home and a stranger to his partner and he nearly broke down right there.

 

But he hadn’t. He’d held it together and they’d sat on the couch, Veronica running her hands through his hair and talking about her day as if they’d done it every day for years.

 

Archie didn’t know if he was okay, but he thought he could be getting there.

  

When Jughead came in a little over an hour later, he found them like that. He didn’t notice at first, distracted as he was.

 

“Veronica!” Jughead yelled, bursting into the apartment, suit jacket flapping and hair sticking up at odd angles. “Archie is missing and none of the incompetent fucking idiots I had watching him can tell me where he’s fucking gone. I’m flying to California right now to find him.” Jughead practically growled as he threw open the closet by the door, pulling his packed duffle off the top shelf.

 

“You won’t have much luck in California, Jug. Maybe try somewhere a little closer to home?” Archie said, warmth blooming in his chest at Jughead’s obvious worry. Jughead whirled around, duffle slamming into the closet door and dropping from his hand from the violence of the movement. Archie watched comfortably from Veronica’s arms, feeling the slight shake that betrayed her silent laughter.

 

“Archie?” He breathed, eyes wide with hope, love, concern, fear, and a myriad of other emotions Archie couldn’t pick out. He felt a pang at that realization. There was a time Archie had been able to read Jughead like a stop sign. Yet another thing he’d lost.

 

Jughead swept Archie off the couch, pulling him into a hug that was perfect and not enough at the same time. “When did you get here? What happened? Is everything okay?” Archie felt Jughead start to pull away, knew that he’d want to check Archie over, look into his eyes to catch the lies Archie was going to tell. Archie just held tighter.

 

“I’m fine, Juggie. I just got in a little bit ago.” Archie muttered, tucking his head into Jughead’s neck. He felt Veronica get up behind him and grabbed her to pull her into the hug with them. He wanted to stay like that forever. Wrapped in the arms of two of his favorite people in the apartment they all shared. Away from the world that constantly demanded more.

 

“Arch?” Jughead said, “Not for nothing but could we move this somewhere a little more comfortable? The couch is right there.” With not a little reluctance, Archie disentangled himself from the other two, using one hand to quickly pull Jughead onto the couch next to him and the other to pull Veronica onto his lap.

 

“I’m glad you’re home, Archie,” Jughead said once they were settled. “How long are you going to be here this time?”

 

“He’s here to stay,” Veronica replied, resting her feet in Jughead’s lap. Archie felt the warmth again. Veronica had said it with such certainty, like there was no way Archie _wouldn’t_ stay. Jughead folded into Archie’s side and casually rested one hand on Veronica’s legs. “Thank god,” he murmured.

 

Sitting there, Jughead tucked under his left arm, Veronica resting her head on his right shoulder, Archie knew there was only one thing that could make it better. Which was when Betty walked through the door, answering all of Archie’s unspoken prayers.

 

Betty’s first words upon opening the door were, “Hey Arch, I’m so glad you’re back!” Archie’s chest was tight, his cheeks hurt from smiling, and all he could do was hum happily back at her, eyes half-closed in contentment. From the soft look in her eyes and the slight smile, she understood what he wanted to say.

 

“How did you know he’d be here?” Jughead demanded petulantly, not moving from his spot on the couch.

 

“I have my sources,” Betty replied, kissing Veronica, Archie, and Jughead in turn before delicately lifting Veronica’s feet off of Jughead’s lap, dropping them onto the floor and claiming their spot for her own. Veronica pouted and replaced them, this time on Betty’s lap.

 

“I want your sources.” Jughead said as Archie began to drift off, sleep coming more quickly than it had in months, maybe years.

 

“Aw, Juggie, I’m happy to share.” Was the last thing Archie heard before sleep claimed him completely.

 

The three looked at him fondly, months of missing him forgotten in the euphoria of his return. But then Betty shifted and Jughead and Veronica both looked to her instead, concern growing at the serious expression on her face.

 

“We need to talk.”


	2. The Letter

“We need to talk.”

 

Veronica looks at Betty warily. _We need to talk_ is never a good thing to hear, especially from a romantic partner. Veronica has come a long way from the insecure young woman unsure of where she fits in their relationship and an even longer way from the teenage girl envious of the perfect couple at school, but at the words a pit still forms in her stomach.

 

“What nefarious plot to destroy our fair town have you discovered today?” Jughead asks, half joke, half serious concern. He has one arm casually looped around Betty’s waist and Veronica can feel the warmth of his knuckles where they graze the ankle she still has propped in Betty’s lap.

 

Betty looks at the two of them, before glancing at Archie. Veronica wonders if Betty sees what she sees when she looks at him. The face that’s just a shade too pale and a touch too thin, the dark bags beneath his eyes barely covered by the makeup he started wearing sometime in the first year of his career, and the pure exhaustion that practically envelopes his frame. Whatever Betty sees it makes her say, “Let’s go to the kitchen, I don’t want to wake Archie,” and the three slowly disentangle themselves from the sleeping man.

 

In the kitchen, Veronica watches Betty as she immediately begins emptying the dishwasher, an obvious delaying tactic as Betty hates that particular chore. Veronica also notices Jughead head straight towards the one counter in the kitchen that he can casually lean against and still see Archie sleeping on the couch as well as the two of them. She looks at them, the tension they’re both clearly carrying, and knows that nothing will get done if she doesn’t take charge.

 

“I’m sure that we can work past whatever it is that has you so concerned, but first you need to tell us what’s wrong, B.” Betty pauses in the middle of sticking a knife in the knife block, her hand still wrapped around the handle like she’s preparing to stab someone in the chest. For a second, Veronica almost thinks Betty won’t tell them.

 

“I’m not sure, that’s the problem,” she says, dropping her hand away and turning towards them. Betty falls silent again and Veronica waits for Jughead to step in and say something, but he seems content to watch the proceedings. Veronica opens her mouth, before closing it again, realizing that this was probably the first time since the three let her in to their little plan that Betty hadn't shared what she knew immediately. Veronica hadn't been aware of how much she’d come to rely on it.

 

Betty sighs, seeming to realize that silence isn’t going to suddenly solve everything.

 

“This came to the Register’s offices today,” Betty starts, pulling a folded white envelope out of her jacket pocket, “No one could tell me where it came from.” She places it delicately on the kitchen table and the three of them watch as gravity slowly unfolds it. Veronica sees _Betty Cooper_ written in black pen come into view and feels an inexplicable chill.

 

Jughead clearly senses something about the envelope Veronica can’t yet bring herself to think. He leaps into action the way he only does for food and immediate threats to his partners, grabbing the envelope off the table and ripping it open. Betty has been eyeing it like it’s a bomb since she placed it on the table and Veronica may not be able to read the single sheet of paper Jughead now has gripped in his hands, but she can provide some comfort to Betty.

 

“If someone is threatening you, B, we’ll take care of it. Between the three of us they won’t be able to hide for long,” Veronica says soothingly, putting an arm around Betty’s waist and pulling her in to kiss her comfortingly. Betty isn’t looking at the letter anymore, she’s looking at Veronica, which should be a good thing. But Jughead has stopped reading and is looking at her too. And _Oh_ Veronica realizes, _why would someone threaten Betty?_

 

“What does it say, Jughead?” Veronica asks, resenting the way her voice trembles just a hair. Not enough that a stranger would be able to catch, but then, she isn't with two strangers when it happens.

 

“V…”

 

“What does it say?” Veronica says again, stronger this time and cutting Betty off, unwilling to delay further. Jughead glances at Betty, just a quick flick of his eyes, and Veronica knows he doesn’t mean anything by it but her nerves are already brittle and she snaps.

 

“Jughead. Either tell me or give me the letter. Right. Now.” Betty, who somehow reversed their positions when Veronica wasn’t paying attention, tightens her hold on Veronica’s waist and rubs soothing circles into her hip.

 

“Riverdale is a town of sinners,” Jughead starts, “And our newest mayoral candidate is no different. The apple doesn’t fall far from the tree and Hiram Lodge’s rotten roots will continue to corrupt this town if it elects his daughter. Expose Veronica Lodge’s lies or the bloodletting will start with her.”

 

Veronica is suddenly fifteen and watching her father’s arrest, sixteen and listening to former friends call him a criminal, seventeen and trying to prove she’s different from him.

 

“Veronica?” Betty asks, sweet and tentative, pulling Veronica to the here and now where she’s twenty-five, surrounded by people who care about her, and in some ways worse than her father ever was.

 

“We’ll find them,” Jughead says, low and serious. “Nothing will happen to you.” Any other time his voice would have sent a thrill through her. The implicit promise in it, the strength that backs it.

 

“Obviously nothing will happen to me,” Veronica replies tartly, pulling herself up and out of Betty’s arms. “If this wannabe Zodiac Killer thinks they can scare me into not running for mayor, they’re sadly mistaken. Our first step is damage control. How many people at the Register read this sad attempt at intimidation?”

 

“Just my mom and Toni,” Betty says, earning a look from Jughead that Veronica doesn’t bother to decipher. “But my mom wants to publish it.”

 

“We’ll just have to convince her not to. Perhaps by telling her you gave it to the sheriff? And I assume Toni knows to keep her mouth shut,” Veronica adds, looking to Jughead who scowls in agreement. “There we go. You and Jughead will find whoever sent that awful note and I will win the election by a landslide, beginning my first term as mayor with no scandals and the full support of the citizens.”

 

“You shouldn’t go anywhere alone,” is Betty’s response to the rousing speech, rather than the enthusiastic support Veronica was hoping for.

 

“Betty’s right, Archie should be with you if you’re in public,” Jughead agrees, looking into the living room again. Veronica starts. She’d forgotten Archie was there. Years of him recording in California or being on tour more often than he’d been in Riverdale had established a certain dynamic between the three of them and it was too easy to fall in to it with the revelation of the letter. _That will change as soon as this is dealt with_ she thinks guiltily.

 

“What about you?” Betty asks, “People are going to start talking if Archie is suddenly home and spending all of his time with Veronica. You’re her husband, saying you’re taking time off to support her campaign would be much more believable and less gossip provoking.”

 

But Jughead is already shaking his head, “If this person is going after Veronica because she’s ‘corrupt’ don’t you think reminding them that she’s married to a gang member is a bad idea? We don’t want to give them any more reasons to target her.”

 

“No one thinks you’re a gang member, Jug!” Betty interjects, but Veronica sees his point.

 

“And no one thinks Veronica is anything like her dad, but the letter writer saw through that act pretty quickly, too. I just think it would be safer if we tell people Archie was looking for something to do now that he’s back and Veronica offered her campaign with your support.”

 

“Jughead’s right, B. Besides, between you covering my campaign and Jughead attending events with me, Archie won’t have to spend that much time with me where we don’t have one of you as a ‘chaperone’ or whatever you’re worried about. And it’s only a few weeks until the election anyways. We can do this.”

 

But Betty still doesn’t look convinced. The three of them spend the next hour working through a plan, and when Archie wakes up and joins them Veronica feels like she successfully faked the confidence that she was trying for earlier. _Still_ , she thinks to herself, _there’s only a few more weeks until the election, how much can really happen?_


	3. Arguments and Acquiescence

The next morning, Betty makes sure to send Veronica and Archie off early, conveniently leaving her alone with Jughead.

 

Jughead would say that she ambushed him.

 

Betty would also say that she ambushed him because she has a realistic sense of who she is as a person and a commitment to never lie to herself.

 

No matter what you call it, Betty and Jughead are the last two at home at 7:53 when the door shuts behind Veronica and Archie and will be the only two there until 8:30 when Betty has to leave for work herself and she plans to use every second to her advantage.

 

“You’re the obvious choice to be Veronica’s bodyguard until we find whoever wrote this letter and we both know it,” Betty starts as soon as the front door locks, ever unwilling to beat around the bush when it comes to their life. Jughead, who had been sitting at the kitchen table staring off into the middle distance for the past five minutes looks blearily up at her. “Is there something going on with you and Veronica that we need to talk about?” At that his eyes clear and he focuses on her, his shoulders tightening and his arms folding protectively over his chest.

 

“ _No_ ,” he immediately replies, defensive and horrified, “I just…” He trails off and Betty studies him for clues to his sudden reticence for spending time with Veronica. He looks down, to the left, readjusts his arms and his beanie and overall visibly prepares himself for either a lie or a truth he doesn’t want to say, and she probably doesn’t want to hear. Betty cuts him off before he can make things worse.

 

“Don’t lie to me, Jug. Not about this, not about us. There’s too much going on for us to not be honest with each other. Veronica is about to be mayor, Archie’s back ahead of schedule, and now this letter? Us keeping secrets is an added thing that we _really_ don’t need.” Jughead pushes himself away from the table and heads towards the counter he’d claimed last night. He’s still tense and his arms are still crossed, but Betty can tell he’s psyching himself up for whatever he has to say, not thinking up a lie.

 

“I’m going to start the takeover of the Serpents,” is what comes out of his mouth and Betty was absolutely right, that is not at all what she wanted to hear. Her reaction must be obvious because Jughead continues before she has a chance to lay out all the reasons that is a _very bad idea_. “I had three people watching Archie and none of them were able to tell me he was leaving. He’d been planning it for nearly a week and had been actually gone for _nine hours_ before I got the call. _Archie._ How long did it take you to find out? And that letter? Toni should have called me immediately. _Especially_ with the threat to Veronica.”

 

Betty frowns at him. Veronica and Jughead both chose to pursue positions of power and prestige, but Veronica’s role – at least in the campaign of her first term when people actually care – also necessitates the illusion of respectability. Jughead deciding to become the Serpent King before he’s got the mayor on his side, and in fact, before Veronica has even been elected, will make any missteps made while _becoming_ Serpent King much more likely to reflect poorly on her campaign. Jughead isn’t making sense and they both know it.

 

“No, Jug, that’s just going to make things more difficult, you can wait a few months for everything to blow over. Veronica will be fine and Archie is _here_ , why would you jeopardize everything now?” Betty asks, trying to get into his head.

 

“You don’t get it,” he says, as if Betty isn’t _asking_ him to explain things so she’ll understand. She starts to speak again to try to get some sort of coherent explanation out of him, but he interrupts her, practically snarling.

 

“Leave it, Betty.”

 

And never let it be said that Elizabeth Cooper has ever backed down from a fight, because when she hears that, Betty flips.

 

“No, Jughead. You don’t get to say that. We’re in this together and we have been for far too _fucking_ long for me to ‘leave it.’ Or maybe you’re regretting our decision? Maybe we should have ‘left’ Veronica out of it entirely? Or maybe now you’re wishing you’d ‘left’ me and Archie out of it from the beginning? Hmm?”

 

“That’s not what I’m saying at all!” Jughead claims, hands up in appeasement. He looks hunted and Betty can’t bring herself to care. She’s backed him into a corner and rather than lashing out as he would with the Serpents, he’s drawn inward. The anger he had a moment ago gone entirely and desperation replacing it. A feeling of power thrills through Betty and she has to remind herself that she loves Jughead. He isn’t a target of her wrath and pain, he is a partner. Someone to be protected and cared for and loved. A deep shuddering breath leaves her and she’s left feeling hollow. _We’re stronger than this_ she thinks _calm down and let him explain._

 

“Then what _are_ you saying?” Betty says, trying to keep recriminations out of her voice, striving for a calm she lost. Jughead shrugs, putting his hands down and crossing his arms again. The two of them stand there, facing off across the table they’d sat planning at last night. Betty knows that from his spot Jughead can see the couch they’d snuggled into with a freshly returned Archie. From hers she can see the hallway to their bedroom. This apartment is the culmination of years of work, the home of years of love and joy and tears. “Jug, please?” Betty asks again, softer, gentler, knowing she can’tlose this too.

 

“If I can’t protect you then what was the point?” They stare at each other, both lost. Betty doesn’t have an answer, but Jughead clearly isn’t looking for one. He brushes past her, a quick kiss to her cheek and a mumbled “Bye” follow him out the door. Betty is the last one at home at 7:59 when the door shuts behind him.

  

* * *

 

 

The Register is decidedly not Betty’s favorite place in Riverdale. In fact, were she to rank all of the Riverdale locations, the Register’s offices would come in somewhere below the high school but above the Sisters of Quiet Mercy. Today, fifteen minutes early and fresh from the fight with Jughead, it’s almost a haven. Her parents aren’t in yet, reason one and two why the offices are trying in the best of times, so she’s able to just sit at her desk and replay the argument in the dim light.

_If I can’t protect you then what was the point?_ Jughead had said, resigned to whatever blame Betty was willing to lay at his feet. Taking his imagined lashings stoically as he clearly thought was his due. He’d always taken too much of the blame for their actions and not enough of the credit. Betty sighs heavily as the darkened office lights up around her.

 

“Still thinking about that letter?” Toni asks as she comes closer and takes in Betty’s slumped form. Toni has styled her short hair far more than usual and it looks like she’d re-dyed it last night. Betty idly wonders if Toni has a date tonight and makes a mental note to find a way to get Toni to mention it later. For now, she pulls her mind back to the letter she’d received the day before. It wasn’t that she’d forgotten, or that she considers her earlier argument to be more important, but she had definitely pushed it to the back of her mind.

 

“How did you know?” A rueful smile makes its way across Betty’s face and she looks up at Toni, angling her head just so. Toni looks like she’s going to say something, but Betty suddenly doesn’t have the patience to do this anymore and cuts her off. “Honestly, I’m probably just being paranoid. Whoever wrote that letter hasn’t even done anything. And Archie said he’d hang out with Veronica for a bit just to make sure she’s safe. Plus, I’m gonna tell the sheriff. There’s no use stressing out about it.”

 

“Absolutely not!” Her mother shouts front the door and Betty briefly regrets every decision she ever made that lead to this moment.

 

_If I can’t protect you then what was the point?_

 

“Hi Mom,” she replies, smile tight and obviously fake as Toni also greets her parents. Her mom comes charging up to her desk and Betty desperately keeps from pulling back into herself as she had most of her childhood and teenage years. Her father faithfully comes up behind his wife and Betty would look imploringly at him if she thought it would do any good.

 

“Do you see the story we’re giving up here, Elizabeth? We need to print that letter so the town can make their own decisions about Veronica Lodge and know that we have a psychopath in our midst!”

 

“Mom, everyone knows about Veronica’s dad. It isn’t exactly a story. Crazy letter writers also aren’t a story; the Register gets one of those once a month. And it isn’t _we_. The letter was addressed to me.”

 

“Whoever wrote that letter obviously knows something we don’t and if you can’t see past your own friendship with Veronica then you’re being naïve.” Betty looks at her parents, feeling pushed aside by her mother on a warpath yet again. The righteous fury on her mother’s face hides the greed and delight she obviously feels at Veronica’s potential fall. The hollow look in her father’s eyes is one Betty has never known him without. She’d spent years watching them and learning. Sometimes she feels like they don’t understand her at all.

“I’m not being _naïve,_ Mom. I’m taking this threatening – but ultimately probably harmless – letterto the sheriff and asking Archie to watch out for Veronica until things blow over.”

 

“Oh what could Archie Andrews possibly do,” her mother says derisively.

 

“Archie _Cooper,_ ” Betty replies coldly, “can do anything he puts his mind to.”

 

Her father and Toni are frozen and watching from the sidelines, like it’s a shoot off and they’d rather not be there but are afraid that if they move they’ll to draw fire on themselves. So it’s a surprise to everyone, her father included, when he starts speaking.

 

“Are you sure you want to put your husband in danger like that, Betty?” Betty is so shocked that her father has said anything that her mother is able to jump in before she can respond.

 

“Yes, doesn’t Veronica have her own husband she can put in danger?” And now Toni looks like she’s going to stab Betty’s mom at the implication that Jughead is worth less than Archie, leaving Betty to once again fall into the role of peacekeeper.

 

“I don’t think anyone is actually in danger, but Archie is home and doesn’t have anything to do so this gets him out of the house and gives me some peace of mind about Veronica. I’m going to tell the sheriff because keeping it from them could be concealing evidence _if_ something _does_ happen. And - ” Betty trails off. She’s probably 98% sure that nothing will happen, between her and Jughead, they know or can find out any secret in Riverdale in a day at most. But what if something does happen? She hadn’t actually planned to take the letter to the sheriff and she definitely doesn’t want to publish it, but if she doesn’t and someone goes after Veronica, she loses all credibility. Everyone in town will know that she had prior warning and did nothing.

 

If she writes the article though, presents it as insane ramblings or even as an attempt by the opposition to discredit Veronica, then she can make Veronica look blameless, herself even more trustworthy, and put essentially the entire town on alert.

 

“You’re right, Mom,” Betty says, to the surprise of the other three. “We have a responsibility to our readers. I’ll work on the article right now. It should be done by tonight if you can go get some pictures of Veronica, Toni?”

 

“… okay?” Toni replies, looking at Betty’s parents as she backs out of the conversation, clearly expecting one of them to say something. But both of them looked pleased and her mom nods sharply before heading to her office. Her dad hesitates for a few seconds.

 

“You’re doing the right thing, Betty. The town deserves to know.”

 

 _I’m not doing this for the town_ Betty thinks as he walks away, already planning the best way to present the story.

* * *

 

Betty makes sure to call Veronica, Jughead, and Archie to let them know that the story will be live on the Register’s website by 6 that evening. It’s a tight deadline, but she already has a few different drafts in the defense of Veronica Lodge so it’s really just a matter of choosing the best one and tweaking it to fit the circumstances. She makes sure to send it to the three of them for a final edit to make sure it’ll do what they want it to.

 

Over the next week and a half Betty gets dozens of calls and emails from Riverdale citizens claiming to have knowledge about the letter writer, but none of them pan out. Jughead, who hasn’t mentioned becoming the Serpent King again since that morning, also has no leads worth mentioning from his informants. Veronica hasn't said anything but Betty knows that she's had more people than usual avoid her, so Betty makes sure to submit a few letters to the editor from various anonymous citizens coming to her defense. However, other than the expected, and easily reversible, uptick in people conflating Veronica and her father, nothing has happened. Betty starts to think that the whole thing will blow over and fade into nothing but an obscure bit of Riverdale history.

 

Until Veronica gets shot in Pop’s. Betty gets the frantic call from Archie while she's chatting about Toni's upcoming second date and barely registers when the photographer immediately disappears to "give her space."

 

Betty hears the sirens in the background, Archie's desperate breathing, and faint pained gasps that could just be her imagination, and thinks _i_ _f I can’t protect you then what was the point?_


	4. The Hospital

Jughead remembers what he was doing when he got the call.

 

He’d been in a meeting with someone who didn’t know about his “side job,” so he and Sweet Pea were able to do the Secretary/Personal Assistant bit which always killed. They’d been in the middle of wrapping things up when Sweet Pea’s phone rang. The soon to be ex-business owner looked so relieved at the unexpected break that Jughead almost felt bad about the whole thing.

 

And then Sweet Pea gave _Jughead_ the phone and he heard Toni say, “It’s Veronica” and he doesn’t remember much of anything after that.

 

So Jughead remembers getting the call, it’s everything after that’s a little fuzzy, like nothing was real until he’d walked through the doors and seen Archie sitting alone in the waiting room and staring at his hands.

 

Jughead wants to say, _how are you_ and _what happened_ and _is Veronica going to be okay_ but instead he just breathes “ _Archie_.”

 

When Archie doesn’t look at him, Jughead draws closer, half aware of Joaquin and Sweet Pea bursting through the door behind him. And he remembers that they’d driven him, leaving Fangs to finish up the meeting without them. _I jumped out of the car when it’d taken Joaquin too long to find a parking spot,_ he thinks absentmindedly, still drawn towards Archie like a magnet towards true north. This is the man he’s destroyed lives for, including his own. The man he’s killed for and would die for. The man who holds part of his heart in his hand, who could crush him with a word. And he’s sitting in a hospital waiting room, staring at hands soaked in the blood of Jughead’s wife.

 

Jughead is almost to Archie, still unsure what he’ll do when he finishes the endless twenty-foot trek from the door to the cluster of chairs, when Joaquin says, “What the fuck, Andrews” and Archie looks up. Jughead has finally reached him, and Archie’s gaze catches on him, stopping before it can reach its intended target and the two stare at each other, everyone else little more than dust motes floating in the edges of their vision.

 

“I don’t know what happened, Jug. I was outside parking and I heard a shot. By the time I ran in, whoever it was left,” Archie says. He’s looking at Jughead desperately, like Jughead can absolve him of his sins and wash away the guilt he feels. But before Jughead can speak, can do more than twitch an understanding smile onto his face, Joaquin interjects again.

 

“If you’re going to be hanging around Penn's wife all the time the least you can do is make sure no one _shoots her_ ,” Joaquin snipes, “Or were you too busy chasing after somebody else’s wife to notice?” Jughead and Veronica have always been careful about her spending too much time around the Serpents with the understanding that she has to at least have the impression of innocence should someone bring it up when she runs for, and eventually becomes, mayor. That said, she has met them and endeared herself to them, so Jughead isn’t surprised at the venom in Joaquin’s voice and the fear it masks. He is, however, annoyed that he’s targeted Archie in his lashing out.

 

“Joaquin,” Jughead warns lowly, rolling his eyes. Finally pulled from his musings by Joaquin’s anger, Archie is now staring past Jughead at the two men who have stopped a few feet away.

 

There is a split second of stillness and Jughead hopes it will end there. One person he cares about in the hospital is one person too many and he doesn’t need a brawl breaking out when he hasn’t even heard if Veronica is going to be okay. But his hope is meaningless in the face of the more volatile emotions swirling throughout the group and Archie’s go-to stress reaction has always been violence.

 

“The fuck is that supposed to mean?” Archie snarls as he shoots to his feet. The blood on his hands is dried and when he clenches his fists bits of it flake off, fluttering to the floor like autumn leaves. Jughead watches transfixed from his new position behind Archie. Sweet Pea has moved away from Joaquin, easily reading the imminent brutality and clearly undecided on what his role should be in the upcoming scene.

“I thought it was pretty obvious, unless you’re too stupid to understand?” Joaquin fires back. And he’s clearly ready to say more, just like the slight shift in Archie’s stance indicates he’s ready to escalate the verbal fight to physical. Which means it’s time for Jughead to interfere. He steps ever so slightly forward so he can surreptitiously touch Archie’s wrist. Not warning or condemnation, but support and caution and plea for patience. If Archie lets the savagery win, Jughead won’t stop him. But maybe he can prevent a fist fight from erupting in the hospital.

 

“ _I_ understand,” Jughead says mildly, fingers idly brushing against warm skin and dried blood, “and I think you’d better reconsider what exactly it is you’re implying.” He’s cold and shaky, the events of the past thirty minutes catching up with him all at once, but he keeps his voice level, his face calm, and his eyes focused on Joaquin. Archie is a grounding force, half in front of him and practically growling at Joaquin like the bulldog his high school had claimed as mascot. Joaquin, to his credit, seems to immediately realize what he’d implied, _who_ he’d implied it in front of, and the danger of being within swinging distance of Archie and Jughead at the present moment. His eyes are locked onto Jughead’s and he gives a quick nod before hurrying out of the room, muttering about the car.

 

With the obvious threat gone Archie has relaxed, though Jughead is still tense and his gaze settles on Sweet Pea who is staring at the point of contact between Archie and Jughead with wide eyes. They almost immediately snap up to meet Jughead’s who stares at him levelly, not removing his hand. Out of the corner of his eye, Jughead sees Betty and Toni coming up behind Sweet Pea from around the corner.

 

“There you are!” Betty calls sounding harried. “There’s a new nurse who clearly doesn’t understand _anything_ about HIPAA and is refusing to update me on Veronica.” Jughead, with one last long look at Sweet Pea, deliberately removes his hand from Archie’s wrist and turns to Betty.

 

“We can’t have that, now can we? Sweet Pea, I won’t need a ride back, you and Joaquin can go. Toni,” Jughead pauses, then finishes, “thanks for calling me.”

 

“Archie can take me home, Toni,” Betty says, clearly understanding Jughead’s pause. “Thanks for the ride.” Then Betty focuses on Archie. “Go wash up,” she commands, “I’ll be right back.” She hurries back down the hallway that leads to reception and Jughead gives Sweet Pea and Toni one final dismissing glance before following her.

 

Jughead catches up to her at the desk as she’s demanding the nurse give her information on how Veronica is doing. He looks prepared to continue to fight the blonde journalist and Jughead steps forward to intervene, yet again bemusedly stepping into the role of peacekeeper like it’s an ill-fitting pair of shoes.

 

“Veronica Lodge is my wife. Is there anything you can tell us about her condition?” Jughead asks politely. The new nurse looks at him speculatively before coming to the conclusion that Jughead matches whatever idea he had in his head about what Veronica’s husband would look like.

 

“She’s currently in surgery. If you would please take a seat, I’ll have the doctor come and find you when she’s out of surgery.”

 

“That’s it?” Betty suddenly sounds like she’s breaking down into tears. Jughead puts a comforting arm around her and shakes his head disappointedly at the nurse. “My best friend was shot and all you can tell us is she’s in surgery? Why couldn’t you tell me that when I first asked ten minutes ago?” Based on the wide-eyed look the nurse currently sports, Betty had not tried this tactic when she first asked for information on Veronica. Jughead wonders why she’s pulling it out now. At that moment, Dr. Masters rounds the corner to drop off files and come face to face with an openly sobbing Betty.

 

“Betty, what happened?” Dr. Masters says, cutting off the nurse before he can respond to Betty’s questions, “Are you okay?”

 

“She’s fine, Dr. Masters,” Jughead answers for her, “She’s just a little upset that we can’t seem to get any information about what’s going on with Veronica.” Betty gives him a couple light swats as she straightens up and pulls away.

 

“No, no, I’m fine,” she says to both Jughead and the doctor as she wipes her eyes, “Just a little overwhelmed. It’s not his fault he wouldn’t tell me anything; he’s just following the rules.” She smiles wetly at Dr. Masters who frowns at the nurse.

 

“How about you and Penn follow me to my office and I’ll see if I can get some updates for you?”

 

“Can I go get Archie?” Betty asks, “He’s – he’s washing the blood off.” At the doctor’s nod, Betty runs off to grab Archie, leaving the three men alone at the front desk.

 

“Would you care to explain what that was about?” Dr. Masters says, turning on the nurse.

 

“She said she wasn’t family and I recognized her name from paper,” the nurse tries to defend himself. “I thought she might be looking for a story.”

 

“Betty and Veronica have been friends for years; Veronica would want her to know what was happening. Betty has never and would never betray someone’s trust by publishing their medical information.” Betty and Archie come back up the hallway, Betty tucked under his arm, still looking vulnerable. “Ready?” Dr. Masters asks, with no indication he’d just been scolding the nurse. When the three nod, he directs them down a different hallway and leads them to his office.

 

“I’m going to leave you here for now while I go try to get some information for you. Please make yourselves comfortable.”

 

As soon as the door closes behind them, Jughead grabs Archie, pulling him into a tight hug. At the motion, Betty adjusts her own position and ends up between the two, Archie at her back and her arms tight around Jughead. He hears Archie whispering “I’m sorry” over and over. Betty is crying, not the faux weeping she’d summoned earlier but true tears streaming silently down her face. Jughead wants to pull them both into him, tuck them into quiet corners that only he can access where they’ll be safe. Wants to push them away, exorcise them so completely from his life he won’t feel anything ever again.

 

Instead he just holds them and thinks. Thinks about how many people had nodded or avoided his gaze as they’d followed Dr. Masters to his office. Thinks about the number of favors he’s owed and the number of people who owe them. Thinks about how he’s been the King of the Southside Serpents in all but name for years, how it would be so easy to get his father to step down, how there’s a whole world of Serpents out there, how if he isn’t King of all of them then they still aren’t safe.

 

Eventually they hear Dr. Masters on the other side of the door, and with the ease of long practice they smoothly separate and take their seats before he’s even opened the door. When he enters, he sees the three of them in the chairs across the desk from his own, this time Archie is in the middle.

 

“Well, as Dave said, she’s in surgery right now. The bullet missed anything vital, so they’re just removing it and stopping the bleeding. At this point we’re confident that she should recover completely,” Dr. Masters says, smiling kindly at them. “It’ll be at least a few hours before you can see her, but if you want, I can call you when she’s out of surgery.”

 

Jughead says, “I’ll wait,” without thinking about it, but Betty asks for a call. The three of them look at Archie, who looks torn.

 

“I’ll stay too,” he says, “If that’s alright?” Jughead is saved from answering by Betty’s soft “Of course, Arch,” which is good. He isn’t sure what he would have said, but probably something inappropriately sappy and far too honest for an audience; even an audience of one.

 

Instead he says nothing and the three of them leave Dr. Masters office. Betty and Archie head straight for the parking lot, so Archie can drive Betty back to her office. Jughead, meanwhile, heads to the phone area to make some calls.

 

* * *

 

By the time Archie gets back to the hospital, Jughead has set up three separate protection details, two disciplinary trials, and a delivery order from Pop’s. There is a restlessness to him that he thinks would be more recognizable in Archie. A desire to _move_ and _fight_ and have real tangible evidence that he’s made a difference. Instead, the two of them sit in silence, legs touching in a way that would look accidental to an outside observer. They sit like that for hours, only disturbed when Dr. Masters first comes in to tell them Veronica is out of surgery, and again when he brings them to her room.

 

When they enter the room, there are several nurses milling about, Dr. Masters is telling them that she’ll probably wake in a few hours, and Archie’s comfortable warmth is at his back. But that’s all background to Veronica lying on the hospital bed looking like Snow White, if Snow White had been hooked up to so many machines that she looked like a powered down android. Jughead hates seeing her like this, but he can’t look away. The next time he looks up, Archie is staring down the nurses and Jughead yet again forces himself back to the present. _I can’t keep zoning out like this,_ he thinks as he waves the nurses out.

 

“What’s the plan?” Archie asks as soon as the last Serpent leaves. Jughead feels tired. Just wants to sit by Veronica’s bed for a few minutes like a normal husband would. But he can see that Archie is _this close_ to bad decisions and Jughead knows it’s his fault.

 

“Betty’s probably going to go all Nancy Drew on whoever did this and she’ll need you watching her back.” Jughead says, still looking down at Veronica. Archie gives him a completely flat look.

 

“Bullshit. Betty has always been able to take care of herself. And I’m sure she’ll have at least three Serpents following her at all times.” Jughead refuses to look guilty, instead looking up and meeting Archie’s eyes levelly. “Jug,” Archie trails off, sighing and looking away but Jughead knows better than to think he’s won. Sure enough, this time it’s Archie’s turn to look at the sleeping Veronica while talking. “You let me help you, or you sic your Serpents on me. But either way, where you go I go.” Jughead is prevented from answering by Betty bursting through the door. _Saved by the bell._

 

“How is she?” Betty asks, politely ignoring three nurses, a doctor, and an orderly who have all followed her in and are now staring anxiously at Jughead. He waves them off again and holds out a hand to Betty, inviting her farther in.

 

“Dr. Masters says she’ll be fine. She still hasn’t woken up, but that’s to be expected at this point.” Betty listens quietly, smoothing Veronica’s hair back and fluffing her pillows.

 

“Good. There are a few witnesses that I’m going to talk to as soon as they are done with the sheriff. I’m also getting them to fast track the fingerprinting which they _still_ haven’t done and I wrote an editorial in support of Veronica once again calling for anyone with information to come forward. Unfortunately, I don’t think we’re going to hear anything new. Anyone who had anything real to say would have come forward when I first started asking.”

 

“Wow Betty, you got a lot done,” Archie says earnestly and Jughead feels the pit of his stomach drop out. “Jughead and I were just talking about how you were probably already in Detective Betty mode. Do you think you can spare me so I can help Juggie, or are you going to need me for anything?” And, yep, Jughead definitely should have seen that coming. Now that Archie has presented it that way, Betty’ll definitely support him instead of Jughead’s very reasonable request for safety. Not that Betty would be on Jughead’s side in this anyway, and he _really_ does not want to have another conversation with Betty about why he’s avoiding them.

 

“Of course you should help Jughead, Arch! I’m mostly going to be in the office and I’ll call you if I need you,” Betty says, smiling up at Archie who still looks earnest. Jughead isn’t fooled for a second; he can see the smug satisfaction in Archie’s eyes. Rather than fight an already lost battle, Jughead concedes quietly, nodding once at Archie before turning the conversation to more mundane matters.

 

The three of them talk quietly over Veronica, planning the next few weeks. Planning hospital visits, physical therapy trips, how to avoid Hermione’s inevitable entrance into their lives once again. Just before they leave the hospital for the night, Betty reminds Archie that her parents are having dinner with them the next day.

 

“But we can cancel, they’d understand,” Betty says, looking to Jughead in concern.

 

“Have you met your mom, Betts? I’ll be fine. V and I planned to watch a movie anyway, maybe I’ll just bring it to her.” Jughead responds. He gives Veronica a quick kiss on her forehead and walks out quickly, ready to be out of the hospital. A quick survey of the hallway reveals a night nurse and a janitor both surreptitiously watching Veronica’s door. A security guard down the hall nods at Jughead in greeting. He has support, here, in this town, and yet his wife was still shot. Tonight he will go back to his apartment and curl up with the two people who inspired him to start the path he’s on today. Tomorrow, he’ll continue the journey. And there is only one acceptable end, even if it might come a little sooner than Betty would like.

 

Tomorrow he'll become King.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Me: I just want to let Archie and Jughead beat people up already.
> 
> Also me: 3000 words of one day at the hospital.
> 
>  
> 
> Sorry to anyone who actually knows anything about hospitals or medicine.


End file.
